News

Threats to Your Genetic Privacy
Bernadine Healy, U.S. News and World Report, November 16, 2007
Deadlocks over the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act pits business interests against individual rights.
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In DNA Era, New Worries About Prejudice
Amy Harmon, The New York Times, November 11, 2007
Genetic information is slipping out of the laboratory and into everyday life, carrying with it the inescapable message that people of different races have different DNA.
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Haitians May Sue Over HIV Claim - A HBN First
Philomena Robertson, Hard Beat News NY, November 9, 2007
Haitian Americans are outraged by a recent claim that Haitians are responsible for bringing HIV to the Caribbean from Africa, and are looking into the possibility of taking legal action.
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Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Is a First Step; Won't Solve The Problem
Interview with Mark Rothstein, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
Experts believe that the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) will do little to change the very real problem of people fearing that employers will have access to their genetic information.
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Genetic Testing Raises Bias Worries
Steve Johnson, The Mercury News, September 30, 2007
Studies find that most people fear disclosing their genetic information to employers.
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Genome Abuse
Nature. 449, 377-378, September 27, 2007
This Nature editorial makes the case that citizens are right to resist government pressure to expand population DNA databases.
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Genome Abuse
David Prentice, Nature. 449, 377-378, September 27, 2007
David Prentice comments in his editorial that citizens are right to resist government pressure to expand population DNA databases, but should do so with care.
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A Genetic Test That Very Few Need, Marketed to the Masses
Andrew Pollack, New York Times, September 11, 2007
A television commercial running in New York and elsewhere in the Northeast urges women to consider being tested for certain genetic mutations that can sharply increase the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. But the commercial, sponsored by Myriad Genetics, which sells the test, is stirring protests from some cancer and genetics specialists, and it has brought on an inquiry by Connecticut's attorney general.
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"Personalized" Embryonic Stem Cells for Sale
Emily Singer, Technology Review, August 30, 2007
A company in California called StemLifeLine has announced that it will offer a service to generate stem cells from excess frozen embryos stored after in vitro fertilization (IVF).
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Genetic Discrimination in the Military
Brandon Keim, Wired, August 21, 2007
In the civilian world, it's illegal to deny health coverage or disability benefits on the basis of genetic information. In the U.S. military, that's business as usual.
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For the First Time, FDA Recommends Gene Testing
David Brown, The Washington Post, August 17, 2007
Food and Drug Administration officials said yesterday they are bringing to doctors' attention the potential usefulness of getting a patient's genetic profile before prescribing warfarin, one of the most widely used -- and most dangerous -- drugs on the market.
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Patients Report Same Satisfaction with Genetic Results Received by Phone as in Person
CancerConsultants.com, August, 2007
According to results involving patients tested for BRCA1/2 mutations, which were published in Genetics in Medicine, patients are just as satisfied when given results of genetic testing for cancer risk over the phone as in person in terms of anxiety and general well-being.
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Federal Genetic Nondiscrimination Act Nears Passage
James Arvantes, American Academy of Family Physicians, August 3, 2007
Legislation prohibiting employers and health insurers from discriminating based on an individual's genetic makeup may soon become law.
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PGD and the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill
John Gillott, BioNews.co.uk, June 11, 2007
In this commentary, the author discusses the UK's Draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, and the uses of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).
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Expert Backs Gene Test Disclosure
BBC News, June 7, 2007
The results of genetic tests should be available to insurance companies, a leading medical ethics expert has said.
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Inherited Cancer Test Results and Insurance Premiums
Anna Wood, BioNews.co.uk, May 30, 2007
Recent reports that UK insurers could soon seek approval to use genetic test results for inherited cancers to set premiums have alarmed many individuals and families who could be impacted.
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Can a Genetic Test Affect My Health Insurance?
Judith Reichman, MSNBC.com, June 4, 2007
Dr. Judith Reichman discusses medical coverage, genetic tests, and the government's role.
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Gene Advances Bring Ethical Quandaries
Colin Nickerson, The Boston Globe, May 11, 2007
A revolution in genetics is leading to almost weekly discoveries about genes linked with diseases. Such discoveries are also creating an ethical dilemma for those in medicine.
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Looking at the History of Eugenics in Indiana
Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star, April 13, 2007
A century ago, Indiana became the first state to allow government authorities to sterilize those deemed "unfit for procreation."
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The Lost Girls
Douglas A. Sylva, The Weekly Standard, March 21, 2007
The Bush Administration introduced a resolution condemning the killing of girls, because they are female. Such acts include old-fashioned infanticide, as well as the increasingly popular use of technology to identify and eliminate female embryos before they are born - using what is called "sex-selective abortion."
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Facing Life with a Lethal Gene
Amy Harmon, The New York Times, March 18, 2007
While a panoply of new DNA tests are revealing predispositions to numerous conditions, including breast cancer, depression, and dementia, little is known about what it is like to live with such knowledge.
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Genetic Privacy Protected by Law
The New Scientist, February 25, 2007
A federal law that would protect people in the United States from being denied jobs or insurance because of their genetic make-up looks set to passed after 12 years of debate on the issue.
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The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (HR 493), which would prohibit employers and health insurers from discriminating against on the basis of genetic tests, was approved by the House Committee on Education and Labor. The bill now proceeds to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. It is very similar to S 358, which was passed by the Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee.
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Born to Be Bad? Genetic Research Says Maybe
Reuters, February 7, 2007
New research suggests a link between genetics and behavior.
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Expand Prenatal Gene Tests, MDs Urge
Carolyn Abraham, The Globe and Mail, February 6, 2007
Recommendations raise fear of having only "perfect" babies.
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Genetic Tests May Bring Hope, Inspire Fear
Mandy Carranza, CNN.com, January 31, 2007
Genetic testing can help predict many diseases and, one day, may help prevent them, but privacy concerns and fears of abuse could derail the technology's potential.
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U.S. Congress Reopens Debate on Genetic Anti-discrimination Legislation
MacKenna Roberts, BioNews.org, January 29, 2007
The proposed Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act 2007 is poised for fast-track consideration through the U.S. Congress. It was reintroduced in the House of Representatives in January as H.R. 493, with its prospects for successful passage into law appearing better than similar past attempts. The Act aims to provide a consistent federal standard of protection against genetic discrimination with respect to employment and health insurance.
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Idea of 'Designer' Babies with Defective Genes Stirs Ethics Questions
CNN.com, January 19, 2007
Creating made-to-order babies with genetic defects would seem to be an ethical minefield, but to some parents with conditions, such as deafness or dwarfism, it just means making babies like them.
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President Calls for Genetic Privacy Bill
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, January 18, 2007
President Bush urges Congress to pass long-stalled legislation to safeguard genetic privacy, a measure experts say would encourage millions of Americans to undergo testing that could lead to prevention and treatment of cancer and other diseases.
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Many Genetic-based Cancer Studies Flawed
Steven Reinber, HealthDay Reporter, January 18, 2007
Many cancer studies that rely on what scientists call "genetic microarrays" are alleged to have critical flaws in their analyses or their conclusions.
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